cat problem

cbrjohnthou

hi folks I need a quick answer to this one, our cat, which is very small, is trying to have kittens but she seems to be having probs, she is walking around here with a kitten s tail hanging out for the last 30 mins, should we leave her to do her thing or should I get her to a vet. she is very small in size and we are worried that she can't give birth naturaly. any advice would be appreciated

Shazanne

Please take her to the vet straight away! This happened with my sisters dog. Wont go into details now under the circumstances but it is best to get her seen to asap. Best of luck.
P.S. Don't mean to panic you - it will all work out fine.:)

Mrs Garth Brooks

Ya definately bring her to the vet. They're meant to come out head first.

cbrjohnthou

thanks for your replies people. I rang the Vet and he was less than helpful. He was a bit laid back with the whole thing, he is only living 5 mins away but obviously thought it wasn't worth his while to come take a look, in the end he told me to just pull it out,which I did. needless to say the kitten was dead. I couldn't believe the size of it, it was huge poor migsy must have been in awful pain. She is walking around now lookin for the kitten:mad:

goat2

shank1 wrote: »

thanks for your replies people. I rang the Vet and he was less than helpful. He was a bit laid back with the whole thing, he is only living 5 mins away but obviously thought it wasn't worth his while to come take a look, in the end he told me to just pull it out,which I did. needless to say the kitten was dead. I couldn't believe the size of it, it was huge poor migsy must have been in awful pain. She is walking around now lookin for the kitten:mad:

did the poor thing have any more kittens other than that,

cbrjohnthou

Nope, I think she is finished, she went back into the kennel with the dogs, I know that might sound wierd but that was where she was born, with the dogs, and that is where she sleeps too. The afterbirth came with the kitten so I am presuming that she is finished.

goat2

are you certain she is finished having them, or are there more dead inside her, in case there are, i would carry her to vet tomorrow, this happened a little cat belonging to me, they took out kittens dead and spayed her in one go, she got over it fine she is doing great now, that happened my one two yrs ago, being spayed saves you and her alot of trouble, as you would have tom cats around the place marking terratories cats pee everywhere, with spaying this does not happen

morganafay

Cats often have a few afterbirths, sometimes one for each kitten, so she could still have kittens. They usually have more than one baby, but sometimes only one. How fat was she before having the kitten, if she was huge then she's probably got more in there. Feel her tummy and if it feels completely empty maybe she just had one, but if it still feels swollen then there are probably more.

It's very important to get out any dead ones otherwise the cat could get very sick and die, so please take her to the vet just in case, because he can feel her stomach. Even if he was unhelpful, I know that's really annoying, but hopefully he will help.

Shazanne

The poor little cat - what an awful thing to happen to her and to you. And that vet should be reported:mad: They're supposed to have a duty of care. Please take the advice above and have her checked over properly. And it would probably be a good idea to have her spayed as well as it's not impossible that this could happen again in the future.
Please let us know how she is doing. So many people come on here with problems with an animal and, when it is all sorted out, we dont hear any more about it and, if you're like me, you will still be thinking about the poor animal for a long time!
I hope it all works out well for you.:)

cbrjohnthou

:mad:

Shazanne wrote: »

The poor little cat - what an awful thing to happen to her and to you. And that vet should be reported:mad: They're supposed to have a duty of care. Please take the advice above and have her checked over properly. And it would probably be a good idea to have her spayed as well as it's not impossible that this could happen again in the future.
Please let us know how she is doing. So many people come on here with problems with an animal and, when it is all sorted out, we dont hear any more about it and, if you're like me, you will still be thinking about the poor animal for a long time!
I hope it all works out well for you.:)

I kept an eye on her for a while last night after she went back into the kennel with the dogs and she gave birth to another kitten all on her own:).She is doing fine today and the dogs are keeping a close guard on her. The Tom is snooping around but he would have to be stone mad to try get at her in the dog house. I am not impressed with the Vet though, I will be having words with him when I see him soon.:mad:

stupidusername

shank1 wrote: »

:mad:

I kept an eye on her for a while last night after she went back into the kennel with the dogs and she gave birth to another kitten all on her own:).She is doing fine today and the dogs are keeping a close guard on her. The Tom is snooping around but he would have to be stone mad to try get at her in the dog house. I am not impressed with the Vet though, I will be having words with him when I see him soon.:mad:

Is the kitten doing ok??

cbrjohnthou

stupidusername wrote: »

Is the kitten doing ok??

yep the kitten is grand, she is feeding away and curled up with her mother.

morganafay

Oh that's great

Hopefully that's a good sign, if she was able to give birth to one then there aren't any more.

My dogs are the exact same when we have kittens around. Though when they were puppies they used to pull the kittens out of their houses and lick them and cuddle up with them, but then just walk away and leave the kittens outside :rolleyes: and the mother cats didn't even bother getting the kittens, cos they knew I would!

What kind of dogs are they?

cbrjohnthou

morganafay wrote: »

Oh that's great

Hopefully that's a good sign, if she was able to give birth to one then there aren't any more.

My dogs are the exact same when we have kittens around. Though when they were puppies they used to pull the kittens out of their houses and lick them and cuddle up with them, but then just walk away and leave the kittens outside :rolleyes: and the mother cats didn't even bother getting the kittens, cos they knew I would!

What kind of dogs are they?

a Jack Russell and a Bichon Frise, they are lying outside the kennel all day keeping watch, they just licked the kittten a few times and left her to it. Last year the Bichon picked one up in his mouth and threw it around like a toy but never harmed the kitten. I think the cat thinks its a dog and vice versa:)

The Sweeper

shank1 wrote: »

Last year the Bichon picked one up in his mouth and threw it around like a toy but never harmed the kitten. I think the cat thinks its a dog and vice versa:)

Shank, this sounds like the cat has had more than one litter of kittens. If she's been breeding since she was able, this would also explain why she's so small - her growth has been stunted by nourishing litters of kittens since she was first able to breed. (Just because they can, doesn't mean they should - it's like an 11 year old girl having a baby a year just beause she's menstruating.)

There are health benefits to your cat of having her spayed - she'll avoid pyometra and ovarian and uterine cancer - the two latter cancers are very common in unspayed female cats.

Please consider having your cat spayed. She doesn't 'need' to have these litters of kittens. If she is indeed very small and has been breeding since very young, they've already changed the cat she could have been by stunting her growth (a growing cat just cannot compete with a litter of developing kittens for vital calories and nutrients).

Responsible breeders of pure-bred cats will not breed a queen until she is over 18 months to two years in some breeds, and then they will breed her a maximum of three times (usually only once or twice) before having her spayed and retiring her. This is because that age and number of litters is a proven recipe, allowing the cat to grow fully, minimising the risk of ovarian cancer in later life, contributing to the breed standard and being fair to the cat.

morganafay

shank1 wrote: »

a Jack Russell and a Bichon Frise, they are lying outside the kennel all day keeping watch, they just licked the kittten a few times and left her to it. Last year the Bichon picked one up in his mouth and threw it around like a toy but never harmed the kitten. I think the cat thinks its a dog and vice versa:)

Two of my dogs when they were puppies bit the back of kittens' (5 weeks old or older) necks and shook them like a toy. They didn't mean any harm, but they got in trouble for it and never did it again anyway, I was terrified they'd hurt them. They're so delicate when they're young. And I had to ban my dogs from playing with teddy bears from then on, in case it made them think cats were toys :rolleyes:

It's nice that they like the kittens

morganafay

The Sweeper wrote: »

There are health benefits to your cat of having her spayed - she'll avoid pyometra and ovarian and uterine cancer - the two latter cancers are very common in unspayed female cats.

I would definitely think it'd be a good to get her spayed after this kitten is 8 weeks old. Especially because she's small and had trouble this time so is likely to have trouble again with future litters. She could die in child birth or get pregnancy toxaemia. If she can't deliver the kittens and they die then she will get very very sick because the dead kittens will be rotting inside her, it's really horrible. I saw a goat with it in the vets, and she was so sick, I'm sure she didn't survive, and there was a horrible smell from her amniotic fluid, just like the baby rotting.

Or she could need an emergency caesarean at night, costing you a lot of money, and then she or the kittens mightn't survive that either.

Shazanne

I am delighted to hear she had another kitten - especially after you said she was looking everywhere for the dead one. Her maternal instincts are being fulfilled so she'll be happy. I do agree with the advice on having her spayed - I think she's gone through enough at this stage.
As regards cats and dogs being together - I had it the opposite way round. When my bitch had a litter of six puppies my cat lived in the box with all of them:D He just gave the kitten the odd lick but, being a true cat, he made sure they didn't get in his way and left him lots of room:D:D

morganafay

Shazanne wrote: »

As regards cats and dogs being together - I had it the opposite way round. When my bitch had a litter of six puppies my cat lived in the box with all of them:D He just gave the kitten the odd lick but, being a true cat, he made sure they didn't get in his way and left him lots of room:D:D

I've had kittens who suckled from dogs a few times, one of them was a full grow one too! (that never had had pups and some of them were spayed but they produced milk) and also one of my puppies suckled from one of the cats that had two kittens. I'll have to see if I have a photo of that . . .



I love when cats and dogs get along

goat2

shank1 wrote: »

a Jack Russell and a Bichon Frise, they are lying outside the kennel all day keeping watch, they just licked the kittten a few times and left her to it. Last year the Bichon picked one up in his mouth and threw it around like a toy but never harmed the kitten. I think the cat thinks its a dog and vice versa:)

that is one of the nicest pieces i have read on animal section, you are lucky to have such beautiful animals, have the cats spayed and you have friends for yrs to come

Shazanne

goat2 wrote: »

that is one of the nicest pieces i have read on animal section, you are lucky to have such beautiful animals, have the cats spayed and you have friends for yrs to come

Well said Goat2:):)